Lenovo IBM ThinkPad Z61t

12/18/2006 in Computer Tips, Geek Stuff, Neat Stuff, Networking by Elliot Lee | 9 comments

I just received my ThinkPad Z61t and I’m typing on it right now. It’s really sweet. I’ve had only three hiccups so far:

First thing I noticed was that the system is lacking a Windows Vista Capable sticker. I was assured before purchase that the laptop would “definitely” be Vista Capable, and would be eligible for the Vista Express Upgrade. I’m on hold with Lenovo right now to ask them about this.

I couldn’t connect to our home wireless network. We’re currently using a NetGear 802.11b wireless router. It would say that it was unable to authenticate, and that I should check the security settings (there are none). Power-cycling the router seems to have fixed this problem. I had no trouble connecting to a neighbor’s wireless router, so I think the problem was just my NetGear box.
The fingerprint reader couldn’t read some of my fingers. It seems to get the best readings on my right pointer finger, which is good because that’s the most convenient finger to use– considering the positioning of the scanner itself. This is a security feature that gives me peace-of-mind, and I don’t have to remember a password, either. Eventually I want to set it to encrypt my data to ensure it can’t be accessed without the proper fingerprint.

Well, I’ll let you know what Lenovo says when they pick up. Still on hold…

Two more things:

  1. I want to swap the placement of the Fn and Ctrl keys. Can a key remapper do this?
  2. I want the middle scroll button to allow for horizontal as well as vertical scrolling.

Here’s what it looks like:

000_0012-1.jpg

  1. Henry Yuen’s avatar

    Henry Yuen on 12/18/2006 at 8:23 pm

    Do you have a policy of not using AIM during break?

    Reply

  2. Ethan’s avatar

    Ethan on 12/25/2006 at 1:58 pm

    Neither of these are possible as far as I know (and I’m pretty sure). The Fn key is special – I believe it has physical mappings to the combination keys for use outside of the OS environment (returning from Sleep, for example). And on the middle button I’m sure that is possible to code it that way in principle, but without a pre-built setting for it you’re out of luck. If you’re not a touchpad user, you might consider using the scrolling function of the touchpad? You’ve probably already considered that though.

    Reply

  3. california’s avatar

    california on 1/23/2007 at 10:23 pm

    I encounted the Fn-Ctrl issue as you, hope you can get used to it. Good Luck!

    Reply

  4. Elliot Lee’s avatar

    Elliot Lee on 1/24/2007 at 1:41 am

    Thanks for the comment, california. One interesting thing to note is that laptop keyboards are particularly inconsistent in this regard. I was in my university bookstore today, and tried out a Sony laptop. It has the keys reversed: Ctrl at the corner and Fn to its right. Imagine trying to switch back and forth!

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  5. david’s avatar

    david on 8/22/2007 at 6:02 pm

    How did you fix the problem with your netgear box ? I am having a similar problem with the Z61t…

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  6. Elliot Lee’s avatar

    Elliot Lee on 8/22/2007 at 6:37 pm

    david, I fixed it by rebooting the router (power cycled).

    Now I’m using an AirLink101 router, and things are working fine so far.

    Reply

  7. Natasha’s avatar

    Natasha on 4/4/2008 at 7:48 pm

    Did you ever find out how to remap Fn and Ctrl keys? It would be great to do this since I keep hitting Fn.

    Thanks.

    Reply

    1. Elliot Lee’s avatar

      Elliot Lee on 4/5/2008 at 3:30 am

      Sorry, I never did. Strangely enough, I don’t think it’s possible, at least without some kind of hardware hacking. I’ve gotten used to swapping the keys mentally, though.

      Reply